The Journey : Podcast Edition

Ciara Azam didn’t set out to take on Ticketmaster—but she’s doing it anyway. On this episode of The Journey: In Conversation , the founder of Eventist reveals how a favour for a friend turned into a mission to slash ticket fees, streamline event management, and give power back to organizers. From dance competitions to salsa festivals, Eventist is proving that niche focus, flat pricing, and ethical...

Scaling Profitably: A Conversation with Nate Littlewood What does it take to scale a business profitably? Nate Littlewood, founder of Future Ready CFO, joins Paul Austin-Menear to share his journey from engineering to finance and how he’s helping e-commerce and CPG founders achieve sustainable growth. In this episode, Nate dives into the frameworks he uses to help clients focus on high-impact proj...

Janna Landry started as a performer — the kind of professional who has to win an audience in seconds — and then brought those same tools into the business world. In this conversation, she breaks down what “executive presence” really is: not polish, not perfection, not a fake persona, but emotionally grounded communication that matches who you are and who you’re speaking to. We dig into her framewo...

Introducing Roast the Post Podcast Hiring feels broken, and the character of the job market seems very different from the picture painted by official statistics. If you’ve ever gone looking for a new job, or if you’ve been one of the people designing roles and recruiting candidates, at some point you’ve likely asked yourself… “Why isn’t this better?” We're as tired of it as you are. This isn’t a s...

What happens when you blend early-internet battle scars with decades of leadership coaching? You get a brutally honest conversation about humility, timing, and why people... not processes... determine whether companies scale or stall. In this episode, Jeff Sesol shares lessons from building one of the internet’s earliest cloud platforms, navigating uncharted technical and economic territory, and u...

What happens when a 25-year banking veteran leaves the stability of corporate life to build a business grounded entirely in transparency, education, and human connection? In this episode, Paul speaks with Anita Bruinsma of Clarity Personal Finance about the rise of advice-only planning and why unbiased guidance matters more than ever. Anita walks through her early career, the spark that made her c...

The Journey is your builder’s reference library. Crack open the full archive here → https://6catalysts.substack.com/archive Happy holidays from all of us at Six Catalysts. This week's episode is a replay of Paul's Substack Live with Khadejah J at Story Craft on December 9, 2025. Get full access to The Journey by Six Catalysts at 6catalysts.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Paul and Jennifer Houle explore why the hiring process continues to feel broken for both candidates and organizations—and what a better system could look like. They discuss the shift toward human-centred HR, the growing need for cross-functional integration, and the hidden signals embedded inside job postings. They also dissect a real job description line-by-line, surfacing mismat...

Is LinkedIn quietly suppressing posts with links, especially Substack links? This episode breaks down a two-week, apples-to-apples experiment comparing impressions across posts with no links, posts linking to LinkedIn Newsletter articles, and posts linking to Substack. The findings challenge assumptions about “algorithm penalties,” highlight when and how audiences actually engage, and reveal why e...

What does it take to build a marketing agency in a post-COVID, AI-accelerated world? For Reed Hansen, it started with childhood lessons in grit and ownership... and it grew into MarketSurge, an agency focused on building lead machines for small business clients. In this episode, Reed unpacks what it means to niche with intent, use automation without losing humanity, and adapt SEO strategy in an er...

What happens when you stop hiring like a Silicon Valley VC and start hiring like someone who actually wants their company to survive? In this episode, we break down the mythology of “hire fast, fire fast” and uncover how incentive structures, investor expectations, and startup hero worship push founders into rapid-fire decisions that weaken culture, waste capital, and sabotage long-term resilience...

Enough with the bots. Enough with the ATS black holes. Let's hire with PEOPLE in mind. Hiring is one of the most consequential decisions any organization makes. It’s also one of the places where HR practitioners and hiring managers most often butt heads. So we decided to explore how we can get on the same page, and why it’s important. This special feature drops November 25, 2025. The Journey is yo...

Most teams think “collecting feedback” means sending a survey and glancing at the results. That’s not innovation. That’s housekeeping. In this episode, we go way deeper. We walk through the Scalable Feedback Engine: a repeatable system for fuelling innovation with real customer insight. Here’s what you’ll learn : * Why enshittification is an opportunity for you to differentiate.* How to build a cu...

Ever wonder when to stop DIY’ing and start paying for help? In this episode of The Journey : Podcast Edition , Paul dives into the tricky psychology behind spending decisions for founders and scrappy builders. From fear-driven frugality to opportunity cost, he breaks down how to treat your time as an investment portfolio. You’ll learn a practical framework for evaluating whether to “buy or DIY,” c...

Benjamin Lappalainen—creative technologist, educator, artist, and XR lead at UKAI Projects—joins Paul Austin-Menear to talk freelancing, AI, and culture. From building screen mirroring tech at Nanoleaf to experimenting with reverse RFPs at UKAI, Benjamin shares stories of navigating pivots, teaching others, and embedding art into the future of technology. Highlights include : * Why he left aerospa...

Hana in Kyoto blends VR tech with ancient Japanese forest bathing... and wonders how to get investors to see the potential. In this AMA episode, Paul breaks down how to align vision, valuation, and vibe to attract the right kind of funding for your idea. The Journey is your builder’s reference library. Crack open the full archive here → https://6catalysts.substack.com/archive | Companion Post : ht...

Are these marketing models really in competition—or are they undercover lovers? In this episode, Paul explores the long-running debate between the primacy of the marketing funnel and the flywheel, showing how both can coexist and even reinforce each other. From focusing your campaigns to sustaining customer momentum, learn how to build a “funwheel” that powers growth long after the sale. The Journ...

In this episode of The Journey : Podcast Edition , Paul breaks down the builder’s approach to marketing analytics. Learn how to focus on what truly matters, design a measurement program that drives growth, and even create your own custom metrics to uncover insights unique to your business. Explore the coexistence of the funnel and flywheel models, understand key metrics like Conversion Rate, MER,...

Marketing analytics aren’t about numbers for numbers’ sake—they’re about unlocking insights you can act on. In this episode of The Journey : Podcast Edition, we explore how segmentation, data integration, and simple tools can help builders like you stand out in competitive markets. From coffee shops to startups, the lesson is the same : track what matters, not just what’s easy. The Journey is your...

From military service to sales enablement— Steven Werley has built, failed, and rebuilt. In this conversation, Steven opens up about the chaos of running agencies, the heavy cost of misaligned incentives, and the practices that helped him overcome impostor syndrome and self-doubt. We dig into stoicism, the Alter Ego Effect, and why documenting your journey may be the single best investment you can...

Remarketing isn’t just a digital ghost story—it’s one of the sharpest tools in your paid ads toolbox. In this episode, we break down how remarketing works, why it matters, and how to use it strategically without creeping out your audience or wasting your budget. Learn how to amplify your best content, re-engage warm leads, and make every ad dollar go further. The Journey is your builder’s referenc...

Paid ads are like fire : powerful when controlled, destructive when mismanaged. In this episode, we explore how to balance paid advertising in your marketing mix. Learn the good, the bad, and the downright ugly—and how to capture residual value by building your own audience alongside campaigns. The Journey is your builder’s reference library. Crack open the full archive here → https://6catalysts.s...

When you’re strapped for cash and trying to grow, affiliate marketing offers a low-risk way to spark the fire. But is it sustainable? In this episode, Paul breaks down the affiliate model, shares his own experiences, and offers a playbook for integrating affiliates into your broader marketing mix. If you’re building from scratch and want smarter ways to scale, this one’s for you. The Journey is yo...

What happens when a chef-turned-logistics-pro follows a creative itch across continents? You get Phil Bean : a dad, a blogger, and now, a self-published children’s book author. In this episode, Phil shares the highs, lows, and accidental wisdom earned from writing about restaurants, blogging from China, and figuring out how to get a rhyming book into readers’ hands (spoiler : it’s harder than it l...

How can sustainable startups avoid greenwashing and build real loyalty? This AMA tackles the challenge of authentic storytelling—covering certifications, crossing the adoption chasm, and avoiding the trap of discount-driven branding. Learn how to back up claims with proof, keep promises, and build trust that lasts. The Journey is your builder’s reference library. Crack open the full archive here →...